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This is officially the last week of summer vacation for Vidor I.S.D. students and parents. And yet, there is already talk of the October 12th Vidor High School Homecoming weekend and game that pits the Pirates against the Santa Fe High School Indians. Who’s talking about the Homecoming Parade? Well, 2018 Vidor High School Homecoming Parade Coordinator, Cyndie Campbell, has some well-founded concerns about this year’s parade. “Well, this year, Homecoming Weekend is happening about two weeks earlier than usual on the second Friday of October instead of the last Friday,” said Ms. Campbell. Since it takes several weeks to makes plans for a float entry, now is the time to decide to make your organization’s parade application and start organizing your decoration crew, your vehicle and your parade participants.”

The Pine Forest City Council is considering chopping their city property tax rate for the coming fiscal year, and not just by a penny or two. One proposal calls for a nearly 31% reduction in that city’s property tax rate come January 1st.

While a tax rate is not a done deal, yet, it appears, from listening to the public meeting discussion about setting a proposed tax rate, that at least two of the five voting members of the city council and the Mayor (who only votes to break a tie) appear to be in favor of cutting the city’s property owners a tax break next year. And there may be others on the council who favor a tax cut, but their comments during the public meeting discussion about the tax rate did not absolutely confirm that.

With the end of the Orange County Hurricane Harvey Storm Debris Collection Mission looming on August 25th, the Orange County Commissioners’ Court also decided that operations at the Orange County Citizens Waste Collection Station at the closed Orange County Landfill should also return to nearly normal.

Orange County Precinct #1 County Commissioner, Johnny Trahan, asked the Court for a return to normal hours and a reinstatement of the waste disposal fee structure that was in place prior to the advent of Hurricane Harvey.

The City of Vidor reports construction permits were issued for three new homes in July. On July 2, Critical Path Construction received a permit for new residential construction valued at $100,000 being built at 680 Slaughter.

On July 10, Clint Wilkinson received a permit to install a modular home valued at $121,856 at 580 Evangeline Drive.

Vidor City Council approved a proposed 5.57 percent property tax hike Thursday during their regular meeting.

The current tax rate is .72400 per $100 of valuation. Upon the recommendation of the city’s Finance Director, the proposed rate of .76430 for the 2018-2019 budget year was approved with council member Kelly Carder casting the lone opposing vote.

Following a closed-door executive session, the Board of Trustees of the Vidor Independent School District voted to follow the recommendation of Vidor Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jay Killgo, to name Kerri Pierce as the new Principal of Vidor Middle School during a special meeting of the Board held last week on Thursday night.

Kerri Pierce had most recently held the administrator position of Vidor High School Junior Class Assistant Principal.

The big yellow bus was in the Walmart parking lot, early last Saturday morning, waiting for all of your donated school supplies. Dozens of students had arrived and were helping to set up shelters and ready to collect donated school supplies from donors who drove up to the bus. There were teachers there, there were teacher’s aides there. And, of course, volunteers with the Vidor Rotary Club and their lime-green bus were there to collect donated jeans and jackets.

Now the sky was partly cloudy to mostly cloudy that morning, but it looked like it might be a relatively cool day to hold the annual Fill the Bus School Supply Collection Drive on Saturday morning. But one of those clouds that were passing overhead was dark and gray and full of showers. Suddenly, CRACK!!! A bolt of lightning snaked its way down to the ground not too far from the north Vidor department store, creating a loud boom.

During a special meeting of the Board of Trustee of the Vidor I.S.D. the Board was presented with the school district’s Proposed 2018-2019 Vidor I.S.D. Budget. Now there still could be changes made in the proposed budget, but one obvious difference between last year’s proposed 2017-2018 Vidor I.S.D Budget and the new proposed budget for the coming school year is that the total expenditures for the upcoming year are nearly $500,000 less than the previous year’s budget.

After 35 years, a Vidor man was recently reunited with his birth mother in Denver, Colorado. Jake Sanders of Vidor hasn’t had an easy life, he was placed for adoption in the Dallas area, struggled with being bullied as a youngster and fought and survived childhood cancer. In spite of, or maybe because of his struggles, Jake has gone on to become a successful business owner and strong supporter of DC Strong, a non-profit granting wishes to children with cancer. He lives by the motto, “ Live your life, be happy, do your dreams, but most of all, never give up.”

Jake began his search for his birth mother earlier this year, with the help of a friend who works for Buckner and knew he had been adopted through Buckner in the Dallas area.